A huanghuali horseshoe-back armchair, quanyi, 17th century 十七世紀 黃花梨圈椅

This armchair with its elaborate and distinctive carving appears to be one of a larger set. The additional backsplat with this lot makes two. Another currently in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is illustrated in Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, p. 64, no. 14, and a pair, formerly from the Collection of William Haynsworth, sold in these rooms 10th October 1987, lot 497.

Other examples of horseshoe-back armchairs with comprehensively carved backsplats containing antiquities and flowers may be seen in Michel Beurdeley, Chinese Furniture, Tokyo, 1979, p. 78, no. 99. A slightly more ornate example in the Palace Museum is illustrated in Hu Desheng, A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, Vol. 1, Beijing, 2007, p.95, no. 70. Finally, a related pair from the Sackler Collection was sold in our New York rooms 16th September 2009, lot 15.

此圈椅靠背滿雕飾紋，上有祥龍麒麟，中有博古瓶花，下有拐子對龍，繁密不紊。古代會客，以身分地位高低、或親疏關係設置座椅，而圈椅僅限主人或尊貴親近的客人可坐，乃明朝風尚。